Tuna, Yellowfin – Unassociated Purse-seine (Maguro)

Yellowfin Tuna grow rapidly and produce millions of eggs per spawning, qualities that potentially enable them to withstand high fishing pressure.

Yellowfin Tuna are found throughout the world’s tropical and sub-tropical oceans, with one population occurring in each of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and two in the Pacific (eastern and western and central).

Abundance of Yellowfin Tuna varies among populations, but overall abundance is at a medium level. Purse seine fisheries catch the majority of Yellowfin Tuna worldwide, with most processed by canneries into canned tuna (labeled as Chunk Light tuna, along with Skipjack and Bigeye Tuna). Setting nets around schools of dolphins and tuna remains a common method for capturing Yellowfin Tuna in the Eastern Pacific.

Although current regulations have greatly reduced the number of dolphins caught and killed annually, dolphin populations have not recovered.